NOT MANY LEFT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 193, 16 August 1941, Page 5

NOT MANY LEFT

FATE OF WIND SHIPS PAMIR A WAR PRIZE | WINTERHUDE IS AT REST (By H.A.8.) Legal interest, and a certair ■mount of romantic appeal are con tabled in the news that the four masted barque Pamir has been Seized in prize by the Government of New Zealand. This is the first ; June in the history of the Dominion wat the ancient law of prize has been invoked, and the news alsc reminds us that there still remain a few survivors of the once great fleet of sailing ships that have helped tc make colonial history. Quite out of the picture when it comes to shrinking the world, such : snips as the Pamir, Passat. Pom' gern, Viking, Archibald Russell Kuloran and Penang (to mention a jew of the ever-dwindling company) nave advantages over and above jneir picturesqueness, for they can wad big cargoes; there are no engines ' w> be cared for, and the fuel bill M covered by the cost of coal for ;; the galley fi re . They put out to sea and God's wind blows them home, ..:-geep laden with grain for the mar *ete of Great Britain, or maybe ■'.' •'•with guano or phosphates which wil. ■make topdressing for the pastures ■/'<«- New Zealand. Their cargoes dc -not deteriorate, however long the :' ; -yoyage, and overhead expenses are ■Small when compared with coal-firec . or motor vessels. H;' The Unlucky Olivebank

as an instance the experi-! j&?* of the Olivebank —"unlucky vWUvebank" they used to call her — I S>. her voyage from Mahe, in the •'j'fgychelles Islands, to Auckland in ; JwS. She was becalmed for seven s**ks, but the guano was O.K. The '■'Iwse-masted barque Winterhude JWt Auckland in March, 1937, to pick $&£ car E° of wheat in South AusI walia. That voyage lasted 127 days,

but the Winterhude's cargo was| landed in first-class condition, despite four months at sea. j Captain Eriksen, of Mariehamn,! Aland Islands, who owns most of| the few remaining windjammers, J pays no insurance on them —the cost | iof the premiums would be prohibitive to the success of his business — but in spite of the disasters that periodically befall the ships, enough lof them survive to crawl home with 'profitable freights, and Eriksen is a J wealthy man. He is at times a hard man, too, 'for he had "words to say" to Captain _ Troberg, of the Olivebank when < about 1932, the ship literally rolled ( her mainmast out. The reason for , this was that the Olivebank (built . on the Clyde, 1892), was designed . •!for a crew of 40 or thereabouts, and Jin recent years has been run with : 120 or less. That meant that the iship could not carry the big spread of canvas necessary to push her ! through the heavy seas, and Troberg ''was too sensible to overwork his ; small crew. So the captain went 'iinto steam for a spell, but soon he jwas back with Eriksen. > Change of Seas Necessary As for the sailing ships Auckland has seen during recent years the l ;\Vinterhude is now a gram hulk at 'I Copenhagen, the Olivebank was sunk *bv striking a mine in the Baltic l :earlv in this war, the Passat is, or 'wasf at Hamburg, and the KiUoran 'and' Magdalene Vinnen were last reported from Australia. The Grace Harwar was broker up after her 11 last voyage from New Zealand in *|1938. ~. . . ' There will be no sailing ship 'traffic during wartime and there dwfll be but ■few of the big windjammers left by the time peace.is irioAiarpH It is a curious fact that 'when a steel-built ship lies. idle she ro« as did the old Rewa in Auck- \ [and Harbour, whereas; with g constant voyaging, she will remain sound for many years. Old-timers lay the change of water is necessary.